


Dance in the Vampire Bund : Wolf Daughter

by alicy_sunberg33



Category: Dance in the Vampire Bund
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Self-Discovery, Werewolf Lore, initiatory journey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-12-17 14:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21056099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicy_sunberg33/pseuds/alicy_sunberg33
Summary: Sierra is a wolf daughter. Her father is a Beowulf, her twin brother Dylan will become one soon and go serve the Queen of Vampires, Mina Tepes. While she stays in the Den they were raised in with her mother, her little brother and her wish to be a Beowulf as well while being a wolf daughter, she feels trapped and can’t breath, feels like all will abandon her. This is her fight to prove she’s worthy of her family and worthy of herself. Worthy of the Bund.A character study of a werewolf girl who cannot change into one.





	1. The Kellers

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. Welcome to whatever the fuck this is. I’m a fan of this series. Like hardcore. So I want to experiment some stuff. I don’t know where I’m going with this but I’m telling you straight up. I’M GOING.
> 
> Also this is a beta-less story written by a French girl. Please take this into consideration as you read this... thing? Whatever! I hope you enjoy this!

## Chapter 1 : The Kellers

“Sierra.”

The little girl said nothing. She stared resolutely down at her shoes, ignoring the blood running from her nose and the bruises on her knuckles. She will not look up, she decided.

Next to her was Dylan. Her twin brother, but she was the oldest. By five minutes. Her charge, her other half, her soul. But she was still too young at the time to truly feel that way and articulate those thoughts. That didn’t mean they were any less true. Meanwhile Dylan stood beside her, shyly. 

In front of them was their father, Herbert Keller, werewolf and member of the Beowulf army at the service of Her Royal Majesty Mina Tepes, Queen of Vampires. Sitting next to him on the couch, a very pregnant Domitille Herbert, short blond hair, green eyes and freckles. She looked both annoyed and amused. Only a mother could achieve this look. 

Sierra got into trouble again, for protecting her brother who was getting bullied by other kids from their pack. Pack 11, the Den situated near Stuttgart, Germany was one of the biggest settlement of werewolf families in Europe, so big it had it’s own private school. As it was the third time the girl caused trouble in school since the beginning of the year, Herbert exceptionally took a flight home from the Tepes estate to the residence, taking advantage of the fact he had many days off to catch up. 

So here he was in front of her. And by the time he got here, she got into yet another fight. This time she didn’t come out unscathed like she always did. But her brother was unharmed which was the only thing that mattered to her. 

But somehow, her seven year old mind understood that it was not going to calm her father. She was so scared... but she wasn’t going to show it. 

She heard him kneel in front if her.

“Sierra Johanna Keller. Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

His voice was so commanding... she didn’t know it back then but her blood made her answer to the order of her pack’s leader. Slowly, she rose her eyes to her father, still hiding behind the loosened locks of her hair. 

Herbert had always been tall, with long black hair braided in his back, a thin beard framing his jaw and mouth, and piercing blue eyes that made most of his colleagues wince with a glare. He was a strict man, cautious and didn’t like big commotions. However while he had established many thoughtful rules in his household, he was still new to fatherhood and in his opinion, didn’t handle well children. Especially his twins. Domitille tended to disagree but the man was stubborn.

Sierra and Dylan were rare in the small world of werewolves. They were twins but of different genders. Meaning that while they would be raised together, at some point they would be seperated. Sierra would remain in the pack while Dylan would go to school near the Tepes estate to prepare in becoming a Beowulf. 

Because of the genetic modification the vampires applied on the Werewolves after their defeat against them, millennia ago, women of the Earth clan could not change in to werewolves anymore, unlike their male counterparts. This eugenism was drastically reduce the werewolves’ numbers and it had proven to be efficient. While the portion of werewolves was one out of three children born in a Den, wolf daughters could produce more werewolves than a normal human woman, but they could not be Beowulfs themselves. 

However, Sierra had still a hard time realizing and accepting.

Right now the twins were both still very young and of equal strength, because even wolf daughters had more strength than the average human, although not comparable to those of actual werewolves. And Dylan was still a shy child who had a hard time proving himself to the other wolf children of the pack. And so Sierra, like the dutiful and protective sister she was, fought in his stead.

This was what Herbert was told by Domitille, his wife. While still bed ridden, and heavily pregnant with their third child, she managed to be aware of everything that went on outside of the house. She was clever like that, his wife.

“Why did you hit them, Sierra?”

“..... They were hurting Dyl. They deserved it.”

“You broke one’s jaw. You broke another one’s hand. And Dylan doesn’t have any wound. Do you really think they deserved it?”

“I’m sorry, Papa it’s my fault...” Dylan started to cry and came in front of his sister who was slightly taller than him. He bravely faced the frowning look of his father. “I was getting hit yesterday, that’s why... they were going to start again...”

Dylan had some light bruises but werewolves, even young ones, healed fast. Which was not the case of Sierra. She was still bleeding. It happened not long ago, but by then, for a young pup, the blood would’ve already stopped flowing. Herbert sighed.

“Dylan,” Herbert said, and the young boy flinched. “You need to be able to fend for yourself. Your sister will not always be with you to protect you.”

“Why not!” Sierra snapped, looking straight up at him. “I can fight better than any of them. I can be a Beowulf too just like him.”

Herbert looked at her and the sadness and fondness in his eyes was like a slap to her face. It hurt and she had no idea why. Why wasn’t he saying anything? He sighed and glanced at his wife. She looked at him with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry Father,” Dylan sobbed softly, clenching his small fists. “I’m sorry for being weak.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You only need to be able to face your fears and to face these mutts. Your sister is the one causing trouble by provoking them. And I’m still waiting for your apology, young lady.”

Sierra looked back down, squeezing the drapes of her dress, staying stubbornly silent. 

“Liebling,” he said turning to his wife. “I’m sorry to bother you with this, but can you take care of him for me? I need to have a word with our daughter first.”

“No problem,” she beamed. “Go forth, chéri, and trust in me,” she added while slamming her hand proudly on her heart.

“Always,” he smiled. A rare occurrence. It happened mostly when he talked with Domitille. “Come, daughter.”

Reluctantly, she followed him out of the room. She gave one last look behind her to a worried Dylan. She smiled at him, and he gave a shy wave back. Herbert closed the door behind them and they went to the kitchen. 

“Sit,” he pointed at one of the chairs around the table. She obeyed, still sulking. He pulled out a small first aid kit from a cupboard, sat and started to prepare some cotton pads and ball in disinfectant. She was suddenly enraptured because she almost never saw her father do something else at home other than looking commanding, reading, speaking other the phone and eating. He was still wearing his Beowulf uniform. He looked like he was used to prepare this. 

“Show me your hands.”

She slowly rose one. He took one in his hands. It was so big compared to hers.... She was in awe. He almost never touched her like this. It almost went never beyond the pat on their head. Or sometimes carrying them in his arms. But that was it.

He passed some cotton ball on the bruises on her knuckles and she hissed, but shut up as soon as the sound was out. _Show no weakness_, she said to herself, biting her lip to not make anymore sound, squeezing her eyes shut under her hair.

“Does it hurt?”

His voice was so soft, suddenly... She loved that immediately. It made her want to cry. Still, no weakness! She shook her head fiercely. She heard him breath a small chuckle above her head.

“Is that so...”

He cared for her hands and she did no more sound while he did, slowly getting used to the pain. At some point it felt good. Like a relief. He covered her knuckles with colorful band aids and she thought it looked pretty.

He then slipped a finger under her chin to make her look up, brushing the bangs away from her forehead, and she could now properly see him studying her. He had the same face as usual, stern and serious, but something in him at this moment felt comforting. She didn’t know what exactly. He passed a cotton pad below her nose and on her neck, cleaning up the blood flowing down from her nose. 

“Clench your teeth,” he said, taking her sensitive nose between his fingers. “This will hurt.”

She made a face and closed her eyes, and the second after she was yelping as her father replaced her nose in its original axis with a loud _crack!_ She winced but tried to keep it down. 

“You do not need to impress me Sierra,” he said with the soft voice. “If it hurts, you don’t need to hold back. Go ahead. Say it.”

“....... It hurts,” she pouted, barely audible.

“Hmhmm.”

Finally he passed the disinfected pad on her cheek where nail rakes mark had been made and put a ball of cotton in her bleeding nostril to stop the flow. It had hurt because her nose was still sensitive.

“All done.”

She straightened up and faced him, all healed and proper this time, her hair no longer hiding her green eyes. Herbert wanted to pat her head. Telling her how brave she was. How proud of her he was. But this was not the time for those words.

“Sierra.”

She bit her lower lip when he called her name and looked away.

“You know that what you did is wrong, right?”

“... I protected Dylan...”

“I know you did. But you need to stop now. He is grateful now. But as I said before, he needs to be able to fend for himself. You know that hurting your comrades is wrong, don’t you?”

“If they’re our comrades why do they keep bullying Dyl!”

“Because he looks the weakest. And you are not helping him standing up for himself. If you protect him, you will still make him look weak and untrustworthy.”

“But... if I don’t protect him...,” she started to cry. “... he’ll be hurt!”

“And that will be okay. We heal fast, don’t we?”

“... I don’t.”

“I know, little pup.”

“But if I don’t protect him, I...” She was completely sobbing now, tears streaming down her face. “Then I’ll be useless...”

_Oh darling girl..._ He brought his hand to her small cheek, scrubbing away the tears with his thumb.

“Who told you this?”

“The boys at school. They said girls were useless.”

“Do you think your mother is useless?”

“No!! Never. Maman is maman.”

“Then Sierra is Sierra. You don’t need to have a use. Be yourself. And let your brother be himself. Don’t let him think he can’t do anything without you. If he gets bullied again, let him defend himself. You can encourage him, and help him up if he goes down. That’s what siblings do for each other.”

“They will call me a coward...”

“Do you care less for what your father tells you than for what those mutts say?”

“No!”

He brought her on his lap and held her in his arms. Kissing her forehead. He almost never did that. 

“Then listen to me. You are not a coward, Sierra. You are brave, kind, and sweet to your family. But you need to let your brother grow. Let your brother be brave, kind and sweet to our family. Be here for him like he’d be for you. Standing aside does not mean you’re a coward.”

Still crying, she nodded and he felt snot being scrubbed on his uniform. He sighed inside and he heard a small shy whisper:

“I’m sorry, Papa.”

“Good girl. You won’t do it again?”

“.... just not for Dyl.”

He laughed at that. A true laugh. She looked up to see it happen and it was beautiful. 

She was squeezing him so tightly and the love he felt for her at this moment was so strong he could’ve stayed like this for hours. Hugging her close to his heart. His daughter. 

“Fair enough.”

Sierra was holding Dylan’s hand on their way to school. Herbert was walking some steps behind them, watching their two black-haired head bobbing as they walked in perfect unison. 

“They will come again,” she declared seriously to her twin.

“Yeah,” Dylan nodded with the same tone.

“They will want to punch you.”

He gulped.

“Yeah,” he nodded again. 

“They will punch you.”

“Yeah.”

“And I need to be next to you. I can’t protect you.”

“They will hurt you too, though...”

“That’s okay. I had it coming. We’ll have ennemies for each one of us. Isn’t that cool?”

Dylan gave her and her broken nose a worried look before seeing the beaming smile on her face, and he smiled in return.

“Yeah!”

She grinned at him. 

“Don’t worry, pup,” she laughed, putting an arm around his neck. “I’ll be with you the whole way!”

“Shut it, you’re the pup!” he protested, laughing as well.

“No, it’s you!”

“No, it’s you!”

Herbert saw them playfully argue and smiled. May they keep that face for as long as time will allow it.


	2. I’m okay

## Chapter 2 : I’m okay

Sierra was twelve. She was sitting in the residence’s waiting room, black hair tied up, hoody on, hands in her pockets. 

She looked up and saw Morgan Lemstein and his mother passing her. They had luggages and seemed ready to depart. Well, at least for Morgan’s departure. She saw him say a few words to his mom and walk up to her.

Out of all the kids in Pack 11, Morgan grew up the quickest. He was taller than even those who were two years older than him. Curly brown hair and clear brown eyes. The girls kept on calling him “cute”. I guess? she tilted her head to the side, trying to understand. But it’s true that he was now taller than her. She was not impressed. Back in the day, she used to kick his ass for bullying her brother. Now though, things had changed a lot. He could kick her ass easily now that the strength of the wolf started to come to him, while she stagnated. He also had stopped hitting the twins. Now they got along well enough.

“Hey,” he said. 

“What’s up?” she gave him a cocky smile. Apparently, the girls in the pack said he had a crush on her. She had laughed. He had bullied her brother and her before, there was no way he felt like that. Although it’s true that he stopped doing that after a few months when she wasn’t protecting her brother. Now Dylan could kick his ass too. And she could manage to talk to him without ending up in an argument and a fight. Maybe they were friends now?

“We’re leaving so...,” he said, looking embarrassed, putting his hands in his pockets. 

“Yeah I know. I came down to see Dyl off.”

“... Right.”

She stared at him and he seemed to find it hard because he looked down at his feet. He was all red. 

“Did you get an intertwined branch yet?”

“They’re probably... going to pair me up... with Dylan.” He sounded almost apologetic.

_Huh._ This made her pause. 

Intertwined branch was how was called a partner of a Beowulf. Beowulfs always worked in pairs and did so since the very beginning of their training. This was to encourage to never work alone and to fight with the pack in mind. Two branches uniting in one. They were more than brothers, slightly less than wives, or so went the saying. 

Before discovering that she couldn’t be a Beowulf, she always thought she’d be Dylan’s branch. It had felt right. The obvious choice... But well, obviously, that couldn’t happen. 

“Really?” she asked, feeling anger boiling in her. _Him_ of all people?

“Yeah, really.”

She sighed and let her head fall back. _Calm down._

“If only I was a boy,” she whispered. “That could’ve been me...”

She looked up and saw an expression of guilt that she never saw on Morgan before. She sighed again and stood up. _Show no weakness._

“It’s okay, Momo, you’ll be great.”

“Geez, don’t call me that,” he finally showed her an angered expression and she laughed at him because he looked more normal now. More like the Morgan she knew.

“I’ll always call you that,” she grinned.

“Asshole.”

“You’re the asshole!” she started to ruffle his hair he had managed to comb back and now his curls were again all other the place. She laughed at his pout and suddenly she saw why the girls thought he was cute. She grabbed his collar with her two hands and made him look at her below his curls.

“You take care of him yeah? If you don’t, I’ll come and kill you.”

“You don’t need to tell me–“ before he could sulk she pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek. It was all worth it to see his face when she pulled back. She grinned and laughed at his face and he got angry again at her antics. She had been so mad, so jealous, she had forgotten that friends behaved like that. That Morgan had become Dylan’s friend. And hers too. 

He then took her by surprise by with a strong hug. Squeezing her. She almost couldn’t breath but she liked that. She bathed in his warmth.

“I’m gonna miss ya, big dummy.” She patted his curly hair.

“Me too, skunk.” She realized he had changed slightly into a wolf. Fluffy ears sprouting out of his hair and a long nose. She didn’t quite know why he did it but she scratched his nose affectionately. He looked at her with his brown eyes and yeah, okay, he was cute. She grinned at him again.

“Bye, Sierra,” he said, walking away.

“Yeah, bye, Morgan.”

She waved at Morgan’s mother, who had a strange smile and a teasing look at her son. She wished she’d knew about what so she could tease him too when he’d get back. 

“Sierra!” 

She was slammed on the floor by the collision of her brother’s body on her own. Laughing, the twins hugged each other for dear life, while Herbert looked down at them and sighed. 

Now Dylan was the tallest one out of the twins. He was the strongest, the quickest. She was still the wittiest, but she wondered if it’d still be the case now that he was going to train with their Father.

“I don’t want you to go,” she whispered, when she promised herself she would never say that.

She heard Dylan hiccup, and she cursed herself for giving up on her decision. 

“I don’t want to go either.” 

She felt tears prickling at the corner of her eyes and she called upon all she had inside of her to stop them from spilling. She patted her brother’s back and he released her, crying while he got up and extending his hand to her. She took it and they both got up. She looked at him.

He was wearing a clean jacket and a tie with a shirt. His hair was less messy than hers but he still tied them up like she did. He had a coat on and behind him, Herbert wore the Beowulf uniform. They both looked impressive. She was pathetic next to them.

She beamed at her father and brother. 

“You look awesome! I heard you’re going to be with Morgan?” 

Dylan smiled a smile she saw only when they were speaking about Morgan. It was mischievous and eager. Just to see this expression on her brother’s face, she was thankful for their new friend. 

“Don’t let him bully you again,” she growled.

“You know I won’t,” he said with this smile. She grinned and pulled him back into a hug. Then she released him, took a deep breath, and went to hug her father as well. She literally jumped up at his neck. At least her blood allowed her to do this much. Herbert seemed so surprised he did not respond immediately but then he chuckled, and it rumbled against her chest, before he wrapped his long arms around her form. 

“I’ll miss you, Papa.”

“Hm. Me too, little pup. Take care of the family while I’m gone, hm?”

“Promise.” 

“Good girl. Brave daughter. We’ll see each other next year, alright? It will come before you know it.”

“Okay.” He kissed the crown of her hair and slowly let her down. With a hand on her cheek he then took a serious face.

“Can I leave the home to you?”

“Yes, sir,” she said straightening up. “Safe travels, sir.” He smiled and she knew it was the smile he only had for her. She fought the tears again. Then smiled in turn. 

At the entrance of the residence, Dylan and Sierra hugged one last time. For long minutes. During this time, Domitille came down with their other son of five years, Paul. 

She was walking with a cane now, a pretty one mind you, but still. She heard Herbert admonish her about coming down when he was interrupted by the way she pulled him down to kiss him. Paul looked at this and clapped his hands. The twins called the youngest pup of the litter and he came running at them like a fur ball. The siblings huddled together as if to protect themselves from the cold. She then saw Herbert and Domitille were still stuck together and Herbert was leaning in much more than he previously was. He will miss Maman dearly, she knew that. 

Everyone kept saying that Herbert was not a demonstrative person before meeting Domitille, and the fact she was French helped with that. But Aunt Lola was also French and she was much more quiet than her sister was. So maybe it was just how Maman was. 

“Take care of them, Dom,” she heard her father whisper. 

“Take care of him, Bert. If you don’t, I’ll come and kill you,” she added with a smile. 

“Somehow, I want to test that,” he smiled against her. She only saw father like this with Maman. It was amazing to watch.

“Careful what you wish for,” she grinned. “Off you go. Leave before I pin you to the wall and never let go.”

This time he laughed and hugged her close to him, a last kiss on her cheek. Then he leaned in above his children and kissed Paul’s and Sierra’s cheeks as well. 

“Be good while we’re gone, hm?”

“I’ll try,” Sierra snickered, and she winced when he flicked a finger on her forehead. 

“Good bye, Maman,” Dylan said trotting to her and hugging her.

“Goodbye, mon petit loup. Take care of yourself and destroy them all, okay?”

“Okay!”

Domitille stuck out her tongue to her husband who gave her and admonishing look at her words.

“Bye, Ra.”

“Bye, Dyl.”

And just like that they were gone. They looked at the car go and Domitille knelt next to her daughter. 

“It’s okay, they’re gone now. You can let it out.”

Sierra nodded and then the tears ran down her cheeks, then the sobbing came and now she was wailing against her mother’s shoulder. Paul came to give his big sister a hug. 

A whole part of her was gone. She felt so empty. It hurt so much. 

She was now fifteen and she was walking with her brother in the forest near the residence. They were barefoot and they had their nose up in the air. Smelling. Listening.

Paul was in his bipedal wolf form, his truffle still too small to make a clear difference and his tail wagging happily. His form appeared early when he was running at a race against his class. He could literally change if it was a game. Otherwise he was disinterested. 

Wolf boys usually could turn when they reached adulthood. That stage is reached at age fifteen and at that moment, the boys are sent into the wilderness for one entire month, in small groups, along with their branch, in order to prepare for their missions and to trigger their transformation and learn to control it. The exact places and circumstances of the rite are held secret by the Beowulfs but everyone noticed the results to this trial.

In her own way, Sierra was looking after her little brother instead of her mother. Back when the twins were his age, Domitille always took them out in the forest to smell things, walking barefoot, exploring, digging, be wolf children for a moment. Sierra learnt later that she was slowly training them with those hikes. Building their stamina, their senses, getting used to their body and its limits. Since her mother couldn’t walk that much anymore, Sierra took care of Paul’s training. 

“So, Paul, what do you smell?”

“Errrr..., I smell squirrel poop!”

“Good one! There must be one nesting somewhere. Nice job noticing that. What about the trees? You learned them at school, remember?”

“Pine tree, oak tree, and..... walnut?”

“Yep! Nice job, tracker!”

“Heehee!”

Paul was the cutest. He was sweet, attentive and curious of everything. He almost never threw a tantrum, and he liked the walks in the forest. At first he hated walking barefoot but he eventually got used to it like the twins before him. 

They took their rest atop a hill that towered above the forest, with a nice view on the Den’s houses. 

“Can I go run for a bit?” he asked after their lunch.

“Yeah go ahead! Be back in ten minutes, okay? Do you have your tracker?”

All the wolf children had one, hidden in their teeth. She just made sure he remembered that by constantly asking him when he left her side. So he was certain that wherever he was, the pack would always be able to find him. It was more a reassurance than a warning. 

He opened his mouth big and she pretended checking his teeth before nodding. 

“Good to go, soldier!”

“Yes, ma’am! Thank you, ma’am!”

And in a blur of fur and clothes he was gone. Paul loved running without stopping. Going out in the forest was the best way for him to loosen up. She usually liked to follow him, having a pretty decent stamina herself. But right now, she felt like being alone. 

She missed Dylan. Terribly. It’d been one year since she last saw him and he changed so much during that time. Soon, they were going to have the trial in the wilderness and she was so scared for him. She almost felt his fear in her bones. 

She could not be with him. She could never be. _Not aymore_, she told herself. 

_I need to stop thinking like that._

In her early childhood she wanted to be a Beowulf like her father. With Dylan at her side. She had to give up on that early on. She still trained with the sword, with a gun. As a wolf daughter, she had to be ready for anything. But it would never be like what the men of their family did.

They served the Queen Tepes directly. She could never pretend to do something like that. She’d have to be exceptional for that. But she was not. She was average among her other fellow wolf daughters. Save for the spunk. 

She was able to contact Dylan and Morgan via phone and messages. The communications had to be limited because the Den’s emplacement needed to be kept secret from the rest of the world. But as soon as she went out of the residence to go in town, she talked with them.

She was now completely aware of the fact that Morgan had a crush on her. She completely lost her shit when she realized he actually, truly had a crush on her. It was namely last year, he confessed to her when the Beowulf pups came back for the holidays. She didn’t respond to him and had yet to actually give him an answer. 

Morgan listened to her as well. Understood her anger. She would never show how pissed she was in front of Dylan in order to not worry him, but to Morgan she talked about it. How frustrated she was to be just a girl. Of how much she wanted to fight with them. Of how angry she was at her own weakness. 

Morgan always brought her down harshly to reality. That’s one of the thing she liked most about him. He was honest to a fault. Telling her it was no use thinking like that. That she was the strongest girl he knew but fighting with them would just be a bother. That she just needed to find something for her. To find a goal. He told her that it’s okay to be angry. That she could be angry. 

“We are hunters,” he told her once. “Even if you’re not a wolf, you have the blood. You hunt like the rest of us. You need to find yours.”

This words she always carried them in her heart. They were some of the most reassuring words she heard before.

“Did you?”

“Yeah. You,” he had said so honestly she asked him to wait before talking more, because she couldn’t handle it anymore with how red she was. “And I want to be a Beowulf. Once I am, I want to be the best there is.”

She had nodded at that. Morgan always had ambition. It fit him. 

“Hey, Sierra... Do you think you can answer me when we come back from the trial?”

She knew exactly of what answer he was talking about. She smiled because every time she talked to him she grew more certain.

“Yeah. I can do that. Rock this test, yeah?”

“Sure,” she heard the smile in his voice and she was glad. “Find your hunt.”

When she talked about this to Dylan, he agreed as well. 

“I want to find something that fits me,” he said. “There are so many different ways of fighting,but I’m not that good at swords and close combat.”

“Take the bow then! You were better at that anyway!”

“....Yeah, you’re right! By the way, I noticed something at the stealth training that you could work on...”

Most of their talks had been about fighting and hunting. She hid her pain with their very own small talk.

Sierra had never felt so far away from her twin. It hurt, but there was no way she was saying that to him. He sounded like he was having fun. And Morgan watched over him. He was good. She was not. And that was it.

“Are you okay?”

They always asked each other this at the end of their calls. 

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

It didn’t necessarily mean that they both actually were. The question they answered to was: “will you be okay?” And the answer was in fact: “I will be.”

_I’ll be okay._

A noise pulled her out of her reverie. A very unfamiliar noise.


	3. : Vera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting with a strange girl

## Chapter 3 : Vera

The noise came from above.

Intrigued, Sierra packed up her small bag and started to climb the tree until she had a good visual on the sky. She squinted until she finally noticed the thing that were producing the noise. She grabbed her phone out of the bag. She only used this one to contact people within the pack and not outside.

“Maman?”

“Coucou, ma chérie! How is the hike going on?”

“It’s going great but I noticed something. Sorry to bother you, but do you see the drone that’s flying around?”

There was a pause during which she heard typing on the keyboard. Her mother was the one watching over the residence with cameras and informations, coordinating everyone in case of an attack. 

“Ah you’re right! Satellite alert was going off. Good job noticing it from this far, wolf daughter!”

She smiled proudly at the title.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I’ll call Amira to watch over it with her rifle but we must wait for the very last moment before we respond, otherwise we risk compromising the Den. Let’s wait and see.”

“Okay.”

“Is Paul with you?”

“I let him take his lap for ten minutes. He should be back any second now.”

She heard a sigh on the other side of the line.

“Don’t wait for him. Find him, and stay together until the risk is gone. The Den is in full alert as of this moment. Do you understand? As soon as you get to him, get to safety.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She hung up. Gave a last look to the silhouette of the drone before letting herself fall from branch to branch. She pulled out the ultra sound whistle and called Paul with it using his name in Morse code. While she waited she stared down the hill, watching between the trees to see him arrive. 

What she saw instead made her pause and put all her senses in full alert.

Down one of the forest path, was a little girl. Barely younger than her, blond hair in twin tails. She was alone. And literally strolling in the forest. 

_What the..._

Was she lost? Or worse...

Maman told her about how vampires tended to have the most unlikely appearances. A little girl wearing a dress strolling in a werewolf forest definitely fit the description. 

_No time to warn Maman._ Sierra could blink and she could be gone from her sight. She had to go now. Confront her. Watching her would take out the element of surprise and stopping her would stop her from finding Paul first.

Without any moment of hesitation, she ran down as fast as she could down the hill, avoiding expertly the trees in her ways, jumped and landed right in front of the girl. 

She looked barely surprised.

“Hi,” Sierra smiled, getting rid of her breathlessness with it. “This is a private property. You should not be here. I suggest you leave before getting into trouble.”

The girl blinked then smiled mischievously. 

“Impressive reaction! I just barely entered through here! I’m actually being pursued so I wouldn’t mind some help, if you can provide it.”

Sierra kept her smile on while her mind was working at full speed. Who was this girl? Definitely didn’t speak like someone her age. Also the smell: yup. Vampire. She played along.

“Who’s your pursuer?” she asked pleasantly.

The girl pointed up. Sierra didn’t follow her finger, keeping her eyes on her, but she heard the drone flying around. Without looking away, Sierra took out of her pocket the earbud she used to communicate with the watchers on duty. 

“Auntie Amira?”

“Is that you, Sierra dear?”

“Yes. How is the drone looking?”

“Well it’s just doing that for now. Seems like it is looking for something. In my opinion, I don’t think they realized what kind of place this is. Well, yet. You go to safety honey, let us handle this one, hm?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Sierra stared at the girl who had been surprisingly patient and had her arms crossed.

“Forgive my rudeness but are you a vampire, Ma’am?” 

Her smile widened and she answered with her hand on her hips.

“Indeed. I am part of Her Majesty’s subordinates. She’s currently touring the packs and is soon arriving in Stuttgart. I was sent here to scout ahead but it seemed that I caught someone’s attention.”

Right. She remembered that, but they didn’t expect anyone to arrive this early. She stopped to think.

Distraction complete. For now. Should she call Paul back, she had to keep him away from her, and from this vampire she didn’t know about. First she had to send him home. He could run quickly enough for him to be safe home before she could be. 

The girl waited patiently for her to finish her thoughts. Then Sierra asked: 

“Can I see your crest please?”

The girl pulled out the royal crest out of her pocket and Sierra examined it carefully before nodding. It was the real thing. At least it looked like the real thing to her.

“Thank you. I’m Sierra Keller, nice to meet you, lady...?”

“You may call me Vera.”

“Lady Vera. Follow me please.”

Before going she blew again in the ultrasound whistle. After a few second this time, Paul arrived like a canon ball, drifting on the dust with his small paws right up to her feet. He was panting hard.

“Stop making me run around so much!” he protested.

“Behave. We have company.”

The pup straightened up at that and tilted his ears at Vera. 

“Uh...”

“Hello, boy! Already able to transform at your age? Impressive!”

“Keller boys were always quick learners for turning, or so I was told by my father. It takes them longer to learn humanly stuff however.”

“Interesting.”

“Lady Vera, this is my little brother Paul. Say hello.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you,” he said, hiding slightly behind his sister.

“Nice to meet you, Paul Keller!” the girl said cheerfully.

“Paul, go to Maman first, as fast as you can, tell her I bring a visitor. And I want you in the bath when I arrive.”

“Okaaaay,” he pouted, before taking a starting run and shouting behind him: “Bye, Vera!”

Vera waved at the cloud of dust he produced with an endeared smile.

“What an adorable child!”

Sierra took the compliment with a quick smile before guiding her in the forest. They were about to arrive at the edge of it when Sierra took a turn and guided the guest further away from the buildings. Sierra noticed Vera looked more intrigued than worried. 

“Sorry, this might get your clothes dirty, but if we want to be discreet this is the best place.”

“Not to worry. I’m passed that point.”

“I might have some clothes your size when we arrive at my home but I’m afraid they don’t look this elegant.”

“I will be fine with whatever you may have to offer.”

“Okay then. Thank you for understanding.”

Sierra pushed away some roots from below a gigantic tree and showed her a narrow tunnel, first dug into the earth then built with stone, before revealing a path. It was not lit. Wolf children, whatever their gender was, could see well in the dark and Sierra was no exception. 

“This is originally an evacuation tunnel,” she explained to Vera. “It works independently from the rest of the residence, so only people from the Den and Her Majesty’s personal circle can use them.”

They arrived at a metal door and on the right, a keyboard with a code and a retinal scan.

“Can you not open it?” Vera asked when she saw her standing here and staring at her. 

“Not from this side,” Sierra shook her head. “Wolf children can only use it to go out, and in case someone captures one of us, they can’t use us to enter the Den. But you will have no problem opening this, right, Lady Vera?”

The small vampire stared wide eyed at her and then burst out laughing.

“Oh my, what a bold and clever child you are! So this is my last trial? The ultimate proof that I am indeed part of the Queen’s suite?”

Sierra just smiled at her and Vera laughed some more.

“You are a good one for someone so young,” Vera said, sincerely complimenting her before stepping in front of the scan.

There was a click and the door slowly slid open. Sierra breathed slowly her relief out before bowing to the girl.

“Thank you for bearing with me. While still royal, a crest is easily forgeable or stolen. I had to be sure.”

“There is no offense. If anything I am glad the packs are full of clever and cautious children such as yourself!”

Sierra blushed slightly but showed her in and the door closed behind them as they ascended the stairs. 

“Still, I must ask,” Vera said while they climbed, “it was a very risky move to confront me like you did. You might have died if I was a hostile vampire. And you knew I was one, right?”

“I had a feeling, I wasn’t sure. I had to distract you from finding my brother first. So I decided I’d rather you find me instead and I could determine your intentions in the process.”

“A noble sentiment but it was still incredibly dangerous. Brave, but dangerous. Were you not scared for your life?”

Sierra chuckled. 

“Of course I was! You were the first vampire I met. But I promised my father I would watch over my family. And I’m a wolf daughter. I am of no use to the community, so I am disposable. Unlike our mothers, if I die, it won’t be a loss.”

She heard the steps behind her stop, and looked down at the girl who stared at her with a hard look.

“Were you told to think like this?”

“No. This is simply what I feel. I haven’t found a purpose yet. So in the mean time, if my life can save the pack or the Queen’s, I will give it. It’s the only thing I can actually offer to the community, after all.”

She was caught up by angry steps and saw the small girl stand in front of her, arms crossed on her chest. 

“I strongly disagree,” Vera said with an angry tone. “Your life is not so worthless that you can only find a use in dying! You are a child of this pack. Anyone else hearing you talk like this would be horrified! Like myself. You are still a child! We do not expect you to do something for us this early on!”

“And yet my brother is out there, training for the Queen and will soon take his trial,” she snapped back getting angrier by the second.

“That does not change the fact that he is a child too. Nothing will be expected of him after a long while. Do not discredit yourself like such!”

Sierra gave her a bitter smile and they arrived at the door atop the stairs. She opened it with her card, and kept it wide for Vera to pass. 

“Thank you for your concern, Lady Vera. But I’m okay.”

I’ll be okay.

Vera looked at her before sighing. 

“All of you of the Earth clan are all so stubborn,” she huffed, and Sierra laughed at that. She always thought vampires were intimidating creatures but this one was positively adorable. 

“I guess we are! This way, please.”

They climbed another set of stairs before arriving at the Keller’s floor. When Sierra opened the door of their apartment she called out:

“Maman! I’m here with the visitor!”

“Oh perfect! Come in, come in! Paul is in the bath, as instructed!”

“Can I take your coat?” she asked Vera who smiled obligingly and showed her arms to her. While she hang the coat carefully she heard her mother walking up to the entrance, she asked :

“Any news from the drone?”

“Still making rounds. I think it’s expecting some... thing.”

Domitille stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Vera at her door.

“Maman, this is a subordinate of the...”

She saw her mother, injured to the leg for many years, take a knee. In front of Vera.

“Maman?”

“I sincerely hope my daughter was not too rude to you...”

“Not at all! She has been exemplary. Courteous, careful and impeccable manners. Not all of my own subordinates would have carried themselves with such chivalry upon their first meeting with me,” Vera chuckled, beaming to Sierra.

“I’m sorry, should have I kneeled?” Sierra asked, suddenly confused.

“Sierra. Take a knee. This... lady is not a subordinate of the Queen. This is Princess Wilhelmina Tepes herself.”

Sierra stopped working.

“....Huh?”


	4. The Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strategy meeting between an edgy teenager, a former Interpol agent and a four-centuries-old vampire with twin tails and the body of twelve-year-old. This is not a joke.

## Chapter 4 : The Queen

Sierra turned slowly to the girl that looked barely younger than herself. She smiled apologetically:

“In her defense I slightly lied on my identity. I do not expect all of my subjects to know my face! I prefer it that way even! Makes for great surprises.”

“I appreciate your consideration, Your Majesty. Sierra.”

Sierra awoke from her daydream. 

“Genou à terre. Tout de suite,” her mother ordered her, looking up from lowered head. 

Sierra snapped back to reality, realization finally kicking in and she took a knee in front of her liege. 

“I hope you will forgive me for all of my bold words and rudeness,” she whispered, voice stuttering, eyes still wide with shock.

“No harm done, sweet girl. You behaved yourself excellently considering the situation. On your feet both of you.”

As they hesitated, the Queen sighed.

“That’s an order.”

They both rose, and Domitille stood back with her cane.

“Dear God, you put yourself in such a position for me when you’re injured! Your loyalty is appreciated. But there is no need for you to do this again for me. I gather you’re Herbert’s wife? Domitille, was it?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am honored that you know of me. I hope my husband doesn’t give you too much trouble,” Domitille said with a bow of her head. 

“Far from it! He gives me trouble by the very little trouble he gives me! Do not worry yourself, he is an exemplary soldier and I see now from whom his daughter takes after.”

She winked at Sierra and she couldn’t help an embarrassed chuckle.

“Shall we start business then? I’d like to deal with the thing that’s been following me.”

“Of course,” Domitille said and her usual confidence was back as if the Queen of vampires herself had never walked in her apartment. When at work, Domitille was not easily impressed. The grin the Princess had on her face showed she immediately loved that. “First thing I can tell you is that it’s not a governmental drone. According to my sources, Germany has not yet invested money in this machine. We could suspect an American presence, however even if we’re talking about America, they wouldn’t dare to enter a national aerial territory from one of the most powerful nation in Europe. We’ve seen it behave like it was looking for something specific and not doing a simple test flight. My guess is that it’s a private machine. A 120 million dollars worth private machine but, nonetheless, private machine.”

“Is it able to attack from this distance?” the Princess asked.

“Unconfirmed for this one but it’s a model that could be equipped with missiles.”

“I see.”

“Of course, if that’s you they’re looking for, that would explain why they’re flying around. Clearly they seem unaware that this is a Pack settlement. If they did, they wouldn’t dare flying so close to us. However it is also true that should we retaliate to this infiltration in a brutal manner, we will compromise the residence’s position. So it’s a good thing you’re here, Your Majesty. The one who can tell us what to do right now is you.”

“You would’ve done something even if I was absent, would you have not?” 

“But if we do something risky, then you could be in danger as well,” Sierra thought out loud.

Domitille turned to her then sighed:

“That’s right, ma chérie. As I said before, Your Majesty, the decision is yours. You need only say the word.”

“I know,” the Princess smirked. “Let’s see...”

She sat lazily on the nearest chair as if she always had been in her own home, leaning her head in her hand.

“Undoubtedly they must have noticed me and my suite entering Germany, or there is a spy in our midst.”

Domitille nodded.

“That is also a possibility.”

The Princess grinned at her matter-of-factness. 

“You seem quite calm at this perspective, Frau Keller.”

“I am part of the Earth clan merely through the bonds of my husband and children. To someone who was not raised into it, this is not a particularly surprising development. Our organization is a broad and numerous one. Spies can easily hide in it. Plus I used to work for Interpol. Moles are not that rare in this line of work. I dug some out myself, in my time. But our warriors can do that just fine without my help,” she said with a fierce grin and a tap on her nose.

“Indeed they can,” she approved with the same smile. “However, they are not here at the moment. How would you do this? As you are part of the Earth clan only by proxy, as you put it, how would you proceed?”

Domitille crossed her legs and stared at her, though she seemed to not direct her attention to her but to her own thoughts.

“I would use you as a bait,” she declared casually to the Queen of vampires. “It’s not ideal but it has always proved to be efficient. We can root out both the pursuer and the mole, if we’re lucky.”

“Interesting! Putting the Queen your clan serve in such a dangerous position! It’s certainly not a Beowulf way of thinking.”

Domitille blinked. Then realization dropped and so did her smile.

“Oh.... Oh merde.... I haven’t thought of that... Have I offended you in anyway, Your Majesty? Please accept my apology,” she paled and straightened up immediately on her chair.

The Princess gave a delighted laugh. 

“Absolutely not! I find it quite refreshing! My bodyguards can be quite stuffy with me, it’s a pleasure to find someone who is honest with me and doesn’t consider my safety an immediate priority. I think I might like you! 

“I am unworthy of such praise,” Domitille bowed her head, blushing.

“But that’s definitely dangerous, isn’t it?” Sierra said stepping next to the Queen’s chair, forgetting for a moment that she was much older than her. “We can’t risk your life like this, can we?” 

“Sierra chérie,” Domitille chuckled, “the moment Her Majesty entered Germany’s territory, she became the most dangerous person in the continent. Do not underestimate her.”

“Now I’m the one unworthy of such praises,” The Queen purred. “And we’re at this point you might as well drop the “Majesty”. You may call me Mina.”

“I wouldn’t possibly dare...,” Domitille stammered, flustered.

“Then Lady Mina,” Sierra interrupted her. “We should probably wait for the rest of the suite to arrive, right? Wouldn’t that be best?”

There was a pause and the two women looked at each other.

“Should I let you explain this, Frau Keller?”

“If you’d be so kind. And please, Domitille is fine. Lesson of the day, Sierra, pay attention.”

Sierra straightened up.

“Yes.”

“How does a bait strategy work?”

“... you put something of interest to a hidden person or animal... so they come out of hiding. They will then be exposed for an attack.”

“Right. Why would that be of interest for us at the moment?”

“Because.... we want to find the owner of the drone?”

“That is one of the reason, yes. The other one is...?”

“To uncover the spy... But why would he come out now? The drone can do the work, no?”

“She’s incredibly sharp, this child isn’t she?” Mina said, sounding impressed.

“My pride and joy,” Domitille grinned and Sierra smiled bashfully. “First, if the suite arrives, the spy will not show himself altogether. So we must act now. If the spy is the one who initiated the drone situation, they will want to come out and see if the work has been done.”

“Why would they do that here? Why not in another place?”

“Probably because I fled the suite? They didn’t know where I was. That might make them panic and act rashly.”

“You actually ran away?” Domitille laughed.

“I was bored!” Mina protested, and now she definitely looked like a child. Domitille just laughed more. “I thought I could go on for a stroll on my own! Stuttgart is such a charming city and the way here is absolutely delightful.”

“That is true. But... Hoo... Let’s get back to business,” Domitille struggled to stop her laughter, before finally straightening up.

“Right so,” Mina gave her an endeared smile. “Truth be told, I’m glad I took this advance. If the drone didn’t attack the buildings yet, that means it doesn’t know that this is the Den. It doesn’t want to strike randomly until it has visual on me.”

“Did it attack you on the way?” Domitille asked, suddenly worried.

“Vehicles on the road did. I think it guided them to me. I managed to get rid of some and outrun the others in the forest but the drone was still after me. Until it lost me when I entered your domain.”

“That would be the jamming I set up a few months ago. Glad it works. It’s just a tool I use to confuse the instruments of any aircraft entering the surrounding airspace. Not enough to make them crash but just a quick blackout to confuse them and give us time to prepare just in case.”

“So it is after you,” Sierra enumerated, “it doesn’t know you entered our territory, it’s guiding people here and has been doing that as soon as you were alone.”

“I suspect it would’ve done so even with my suite on our way here. I took very few people with me on this tour. But me getting out of their sight early on must have advanced their plans.”

“It’s a mole then.”

“It’s definitely a mole.”

“We will take care of that,” Domitille said with a professional smile, as if she was asked to bring coffee.

“Thank you for your diligence. Shall we proceed? I will say I ordered you to obey me, this way you won’t have problems with your husband,” Mina added with a smirk.

“Oh no, it’s no use, he’ll know it’s me immediately. I will die tonight! It was nice meeting you, Lady Mina,” she added cheerfully.

“There’s no way he can actually know how this went down, is there?” Mina raised an amused eyebrow.

“I can’t lie to my husband for the life of me.”

“Oh my. I shall pray for your salvation.”

“Please do,” Domitille said way too seriously.


	5. : Defend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sierra protect the children while the adults take care of the Queen.

## Chapter 5 : Defend

The retired Beowulfs and the women of Pack 11 met up. The small ones were to be kept by the eldest children in the school building, and Sierra was the leader. They had gathered the kids in the gym, and Sierra watched over them from the catwalks keeping an eye on the exits and on the outside through the window. 

The children had started playing cards or other games. Some weere playing hide and seek in the gym in complete silence and sometimes playful whispers. The rules were clear. Everything had to be perfectly quiet when the adults were out for work. Stay with a group or three and four and be ready to jump and run to hide at anytime. 

Sierra frowned.

There was a group of people trying to enter the building. All of them were on lockdown. Only intruders would be walking around in the residence while it was on lockdown. 

They infiltrated the place, Sierra felt herself get paler. 

“Maman?” she pushed the button of her earplug. 

White noise. There was jamming. She couldn’t contact her mother. Sierra felt her heart drop.

“Sheisse...” she cursed. 

_Calm down_, she said to herself. _Get the kids to safety._

She clicked her tongue loudly twice. All the small heads lifted from their activities. She nodded to them, looking as serious as she could. They only hesitated for a mere few seconds before they all quietly rose and went into hiding. In ten seconds they were all gone. As if they never had been here. 

Hide and seek is the favorite game of wolf children. But the adults taught them all the best tricks to protect themselves for these situations. 

Today though, there was many of them hiding. If some were safe, some could be found. She asked herself if she should expose herself, like she did with Mina Tepes earlier. 

_It only worked because she was interested in me_, Sierra thought, shaking her head. _And she was an ally... She wouldn’t hurt me... but these guys..._

_Your life is not so worthless that you can only find a use in dying!_

The Queen’s words were brought back to her mind, and Sierra decided that maybe she will try something else...

First, who were the ennemies?

They were humans. They were armed with assault rifles, they’re hidden with helmets and all dressed in black with bulletproof jackets. Basically they were well equipped.

While one of them looked at the door, the others were checking the surroundings. Well trained as well.

There was five of them. The kids couldn’t do anything against these numbers. Kids around her age could maybe fight them on close combat but not for long and it would put them at risk. Only three out of the fifty-eight kids of the pack could already turn, counting her brother. But that wasn’t enough.

It would take them a long moment to figure out how to open the doors, Sierra reassured herself. Now how do I contact Maman? She’s out of reach with the adults for the baiting strategy with the Queen.

These men were probably a search party, either to search for the Queen in the area or to infiltrate the position while the others were away. Them coming here was unexpected. 

As she moved to settle more comfortably on her crouch, she felt something on her breast pocket and pulled out the ultrasound whistle. Then it hit her.

The retired Beowulfs. They could hear that message without the humans noticing it. They could tell her mother! 

She very slowly and quietly, opened the window, just enough to pass the whistle through it and blew her message in Morse with all her strength.

_Intruders. 5. Armed. Help._

Some wolf kids squirmed at the sound. Noah, eleven, the oldest wolf boy in the group and Paul who could understand Morse pretty well now, seemed to panic. Noah left his position to join her up on the catwalk. 

“What do we do?” he whispered, nervous. 

“We need to stall. Make sure they don’t get to us, and if they do, run until the adults get back.”

“They have weapons?”

“Yeah. So if we do something it’s by surprise and we need to get rid of them first.” 

“You and I can stay up here and then drop on them, if they come in,” Noah said a bit too excitedly.

“We could but then we risk getting killed. We need to slow them down immediately so we get a chance to run.”

Noah nodded and they both started to think, still crouching. Sierra lifted her head and saw the volleyball nets folded and hanging in the wall facing them. Next to them the badminton nets and tennis nets.

“Noah. I got an idea,” she said trying to exorcise her nervousness with a smile.

There was a resounding clack in the gym.

Slowly, while creaking, the door of the gym opened. One man slowly entered the hall, the planks barely making any noise under his feet. Then other men came in, one by one, until they formed a tight little group together, the barrels of their rifles pointed outwards.

Sierra, whistle tucked between her teeth, blew the signal. And the moment she did that, Noah and her dropped from the catwalk, each of them holding an end of two volleyball nets attached together, and fell on the group of intruders, slamming down two of them with the nets in the process.

The first three barely had the time to register that when a bunch of kids coming out of nowhere, ran up to them like a rising tide, holding another net. 

Wolf children were fast. Some would say even faster than the actual wolf adults. And Sierra just taught them a new game. They went bonkers. 

The tallest ones in the middle tackled the men and before they could react more, the little ones pulled the net around them like fishers, and pulled them in with the first two Noah and Sierra had knocked down. While they did that Sierra took a gun out of one of the intruder’s holster, and more kids started to swarm them, throwing more nets on them. The intruders were completely stunned. All the nets were thrown on them, and they were trying to pulled themselves out of it. But they looked more like squirming crabs in a   
basket than actual humans. 

“Alright!!” Sierra roared and laughed as encouragement. “Good job! Group 1 and 2, dispatch!!!! Run run run run!!”

With delighted laughter, the children started to split to two different entrance, Sierra leading one group, Noah the others and the gym fell silent again, save for the men trying to move the nets out. 

Sierra ran in the corridors behind the kids, the gun weighing heavy in her hands.   
Because the Den was in lockdown, they were trapped inside. Having left the gym meant leaving the only place where they could defend themselves properly. Now it was all narrow and enclosed places, making it hard to run at full speed without being brutally stopped by walls, and easy targets for the machine guns. They couldn’t all pack in a room because if the intruders were able to enter the building altogether a simple class door wasn’t going to be an issue. And they needed a big place with several exits. So Sierra’s next stop was the swimming pool facility. 

She hid the kids in the stair cases and posted herself on one catwalk up-top to have a view of the facility and she could easily drop down to the row sits around the pool, for cover. She had blocked the door with a long cleaning net, hoping it would at least alert her if they tried this door. 

While she waited, she looked for an opening outside and whistled hard a message for both the adults and Noah’s group:

_Group 1 swimming pool. Waiting._

After a few minutes she saw Paul’s head poking out of the staircases door.

“Big sis, Noah is in the... auditorio...?” he loudly whispered.

“It’s auditorium,” she answered on the same tone. “Thank you! Go back to hiding!”

As Paul locked back the door behind him, Sierra pulled out the gun she took from one of the intruders. She studied the gun for a long minute. Then she slid down the magazine from the grip, counted twelve bullets, slammed it back in and pulled then let snap back the slide, loading the bullet in the barrel, and unlocked the security. She squeezed the handle and rested her index against the trigger guard, crouching and wrapping her hand holding the gun with the other.

She had shot with a gun before. Learnt to deal with the recoil. Played air soft with a replica of it with the other wolf children her age. And with the adults. Knew how to fight with it from both afar and on close-combat. She trained hard for this, harder than any other wolf children her age, to be able to achieve this level. If it weren’t for that she wouldn’t be the one to lead this defense. 

Although now was going to be the first time she would actually use real bullets on a living being. She had to be ready to kill. 

Ready to kill. 

_Kill._

She breathed slowly, calming her heart, her mind. Focusing on all noises and all doors. 

After waiting for some minutes, she heard the door being shaken. Then after a few seconds there was some hard banging and she saw the long metal cleaning net starting to bend, and then break altogether and the doors opened with big crash and three men came into the swimming pool facility. 

She aimed. Breathed. Held it. Shot.

First bullet missed, ricocheting on the floor next to the first one. She frowned and saw them pointing their machine guns at her.

_Aim for the head_, a voice that was hers and yet not her told her. 

As the first one looked up, she took another shot. The bullet lodged itself in the shoulder. The man screamed and fell back, letting his other friends do the work. The third one opened fire on the catwalk and she run along the path, the trail of bullets following her closely. She took hold of the bannister, jumped above it and swung down the catwalk to drop behind the sitting rows. 

She used one of the bench to settle her hands and support her aim to the other side and shot the guy who unloaded his weapon on her. It missed. Again.

_Aim for the the legs_, the voice told her. 

She held her breath for a second, aimed and shot another bullet. This one went in his thigh and he fell on the floor, she aimed back and shot another time this time in his arm, as he tried to aim his machine-gun towards her. 

In the back, she saw his friends finishing covering for the one she managed to shoot, and he started to come to her as well.

Adrenaline pumped hard in her body, and she understood quickly he intended to spray the whole thing with his bullets, she immediately ran along behind the row sits when the second one opened fire. She ended up right next to the one on the floor, and noticed his hand on his weapon and barely avoided his attack by jumping and rolling behind the high jumping station. 

Pieces of concrete split by the shots splintered against her shoulders and she noticed that while the other reloaded his gun, the other shot. She couldn’t open fire on them right now. She crouched to make herself smaller and breathed hard. Tears of fear sprinkled against her eyes and she wanted to cry for help. But she kept her mouth shut, focused and instead got an idea. 

As they continued to shoot, she climbed up the ladder to the first stage of the jumping station, turned to the right where the most hurt one was, aimed at his head before they realized she was up. 

_Kill him_, the voice said.

And so she did. The bullet went straight in his goggles. He fell down to the ground.

“Mark!!” the other one yelled, and she choked a sob. Bit it back down. Climbed to the next stage as the man below roared:

“You little bitch! I’m gonna fucking kill you!!”

He shot up in her direction, piercing the jumping board and almost got her if she didn’t scrambled back. She crawled back to the concrete platform and breathed hard another time. 

_Ihavetokillhimihavetokillhilihavetokillhim_

The chant in her head barely kept her together, and with tears now streaming down her eyes, she waited for the moment the spray would stop and he would come up. 

She heard the noise of boots against metal bars. She scrubbed her tears away, grabbed the edge of the platform with a hand. Swung her body down, the gun in the other. Turned and aimed at him as he was going up. But he had expected that. 

He shot her. She felt three bullets entering her, one in her belly, one on her leg and the other in her arm. She didn’t scream of pain because it had not been as painful as she thought it would be. There was only the heat. She screamed however, when she realized she was falling. 

The swimming pool swallowed her body but now she was in so much pain she barely registered the information. Only when she felt she couldn’t breath anymore was when she started to react and batted her legs and arms, the one that weren’t hurt, to reach the surface. 

She gasped for air and swam to the edge of the swimming pool, trying to reach the ladder and climb back up to the hard ground, still sobbing and gasping. She leaned down on the floor, her legs still in the water. The blood from her wounds had traced her path in the pool, her head pounding with pain and adrenaline, resting on the cold tiling. The blood was pouring around her along with water and she saw the steps of the intruder calmly approaching her before she felt a gloved hand grabbing her hair, now loosened with the fall, and being pulled up on her knees in front of him.

“That was my best friend you just killed, you little piece of shit,” the man said, pulling down his goggles and helmet to reveal a dark skinned face and a black beard, his brown eyes were full of tears and hatred. “My best FRIEND!!” He punched her hard and she felt her teeth slam against her tongue and she tasted the blood now pouring out of her mouth. A tooth went loose and she spat it when she tried to push herself from the ground. A powerful kick slammed in her belly and she screamed of pain. 

“You...” she panted and she was hurting so much she whined. Talking hurt so much but she needed to say it. “...attacked my home!” She looked back at the man. “I defended... my home...”

Another kick and she choked, sobbed in pain, tears streaming down her face. 

“So you did,” the man crouched down and examined her. “But did you think we would willingly kill children!? Huh?! Did you actually think that?!”

“War... is war... You... have weapons...” she struggled to speak but remembered her father’s words and repeated them. “They are... my... responsibility... my wards...” she stared him right down. “I can’t risk... their lives... for... your safety...” Her voice cracked. “I’m sorry I killed him,” she sobbed, her tears streaming down her face. “I really am... but if it’s to protect them, then... I’ll do it again.” 

The man still had fury in his eyes. But he was calm. Dangerously calm. She was suddenly very scared. 

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Sierra... Keller...”

“Well little Sierra, I’m Thierry Fernand. The man you killed was Mark Dasht. Better remember those names well.” He pulled her by her hair again and she yelped. “So that you can explain why you died to your ancestors up there.” He threw her far into the pool.

Again she was drowning and this time the strength to go the edge of the pool had left her. Adrenaline and the strength it gave her had completely left her. She was trying to keep herself aloft but she watched as Thierry Fernand looked at her battling with the water with winter in his eyes. 

As she progressively lost her strength to swim, she let her thought drift to her little brother... Tears she couldn’t feel because of the water around her fell down again.

_Let them be safe_, she prayed with all her might. _Let them be safe..._

And then as she drowned for good, she saw him turn his head and look up in surprise. She heard a gunshot and heard him fall down before she could only hear water. 

Strong arms closed around her body and she lost consciousness.


	6. Weak

## Chapter 6 : Weak

When she opened her eyes, the light was blinding her. She squinted and saw a small silhouette sitting in the shadows, hidden from the sunlight. 

She realized she was in a hospital room. She recognized the forest around the Den she saw from the window. When she turned slowly she saw a small blond-haired girl, reading a book on the chair next to her bed. She recognized her.

“Mina...?”

The girl looked up from her book and smiled.

“Well, well, well! Look who’s up,” she smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m numb everywhere...,” Sierra both thought and said, and Mina sat on her bed to brush her hair away from her forehead. 

“I’m sure you are. You slept for two days.”

“Oh... that’s long... I... Mina?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Is everyone safe? Are the kids... my brother... safe?”

“Everyone is safe. Thanks to you. You stalled for a long time. Distracted them from finding the little ones while my suite arrived at the residence. They heard your whistle exchange from afar and were able to get to you before us.” 

She nodded. 

“Mina?”

“Yes, dear.”

“You look like you’re angry...”

Mina had darkness in her eyes even though her smile showed otherwise. She smiled sweetly. 

“There are things I will want to talk about with many people. Including you, young lady. But for now, sleep some more. Enjoy your rest while you still can, darling girl.”

Sierra nodded and obeyed immediately. Never in her life had talking been so tiresome.

It was night when she woke up. She looked up and saw her father sitting where Mina had sat earlier. He was reading the newspaper. It’s been a year since she last saw him.

“Papa,” she croaked. 

Herbert briskly looked up to see her looking at him. And seeing his face was such an absolute relief and a great pain that she started to cry.

“Papa,” she sobbed. Slowly Herbert sat in her bed and gathered her in his arms. 

“Let it out. Let it out, daughter.”

And so she did. She cried and cried. She wailed and squeezed her father’s shirt in her hand. The pain in her belly and thigh didn’t matter because she had to cry. 

She had been so scared. So scared. 

Herbert settled his back against the headboard of the bed, his daughter gathered against his chest surrounded by his arms. He rocked his body slightly to cradle her until she calmed herself. He cooed encouragements against her hair. He kissed the top of her head many times. Until she felt safe again.

When she finally stopped after many long minutes of cradling her, she pushed herself out of his embrace, the embrace she never wanted to leave. 

“I’m okay now,” she said in her broken voice. 

“Are you?” Herbert scrubbed a tear away from her cheek with his thumb.

When she nodded, he left the bed and eased her against the cushions, raising her bed up with a controller. 

“Sierra. Do you feel good enough to make a report to me?” Herbert asked and she nodded.

Sierra told him everything. The intruders, the gym, the nets, the splitting, the running, the hiding... the gun... the three ennemies... the jumping station... Mark Dasht. Thierry Fernand. The water. 

Mark Dasht. Her bullet between his eyes. His dead body laying by the swimming pool.

“Papa, I think I wanna throw up,” she warned. The next second she had a small basin on her knees and was hurling her guts in it. The big hand of her father started soothing motion on her back. She felt better.

“I killed a man,” she held back her tears. “The other one said they weren’t going to kill the children but... what if they had captured us? What if they used us as pressure against her Majesty? What if... they had weapons and I had no guarantee... I...” she hiccuped, “I killed a man...,” she had a nervous laugh. “How... how on Earth do you deal with that?”

Herbert sighed, giving her a pained look. Patting her head. Cleaning her face with a handkerchief and putting away the basin. 

“Sierra.”

“Yes Papa.”

“It was reckless. Dangerous. Incredibly risky...” she nodded to his every arguments. “You did not deal with the situation as best as you could have. You could have died. You almost did...”

The tears were back again and she nodded, biting her inferior lip. She thought she heard his father’s voice break slightly but it must’ve been her imagination.

“But it was the first time something like this happened to you. And you did your best. You protected the children.”

He caressed her face, and he had an expression so full of pride and love she could die here and be the happiest girl in the world.

“Thank you. You did a good job, darling. My brave little girl...”

She smiled at him, tears now streaming down her face. 

“Honestly,” Mina said, fury in her eyes. “What were you thinking?! It’s like you never listened to me in the first place. Believe me, I meet with many proud people in this world but this much insubordination in such a short amount of time? A record, believe my word!”

Mina stepped closer to her, her red eyes staring down her green ones:

“Do not put yourself in danger all alone like this. Do not risk your life in such a way ever again!! This is an order from your Queen.”

The last sentence had Sierra so stunned she forgot to gulp. 

“Yes, Ma’am,” she squeaked. 

Mina sighed at her sheepish expression and crossed her arms. 

“Seriously... Children these days, more reckless than ever before!” 

She put her small dainty hand on her cheek and Sierra felt herself blush.

“Do not carry your pain alone again like this. You are not alone in this fight. Next time, learn to wait. Trust in us. You did good. But fighting alone against those men was too dangerous. Know your limits and only then you can surpass them. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Sorry, Ma’am.”

Mina huffed. 

“I don’t like that very much. I preferred how you called me when you were barely awake.”

“I apologize but I was half-asleep, I barely understood who you were!” Sierra blushed some more, remembering how uncourteous she had been to the Queen.

“But you did! Come on, say it!” Suddenly it sounded like a little girl almost her age, and Sierra couldn’t resist her mischievous smile. It reminded her of Dylan.

“Mina...?”

“There we go!” Mina have a delighted clap. “Ah, how long has it been since someone last pronounced my name? Everyone just keeps saying “Princess this”, “Princess that”, sometimes I wonder if I’ll forget it if this goes on.”

Sierra giggled at her annoyed expression. Then Mina’s smile changed from cheerful to regretful.

“I must give you my apologies, Sierra.”

“Huh? Why...?”

“Because I brought trouble upon your home. Had I not left my entourage, things might have been very different.”

Sierra looked at her and shook her head.

“Mina, it’s okay. Stuff like this is bound to happen. If someone was targeting you, then it would’ve happened sooner or later. And even if you did not come, the Dens can be targeted too. Then it’s just what ifs.”

Mina sighed and leaned her elbows on the bed, resting her head between her fingers. Sometimes it was hard to remember she was a centuries-old vampire.

“You’re quite right about that, I suppose,” she sighed. 

“Mina?”

“Yes dear.”

“Did you get the spy? Are you ok?”

“Am I ok? What do you think?”

Mina extended her arms, showing herself by making a rotation that made her skirts twirl gracefully.

“You look pretty okay and cute,” Sierra giggled.

“I think so to,” Mina chuckled leaning back on her bed. “As for the spy, your dear mother’s plan worked, it turned out to be one of our human allies here in Germany, whose family has served us for many many centuries now. As it turns out their current heir heard about one of my project and strongly disagreed with it, and decided to show it by trying to end my life.”

She said it so casually. It didn’t feel like the attack happened at all.

“Needless to say that the man was executed for his arrogance and his family’s patriarch appointed a new heir who proves much more promising and supportive. That man will not bother us anymore.”

“That’s good...”

She stared blankly at the window. Mina waited for her to speak again but she did not.

“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked softly.

“I was thinking about the men who attacked the Den.”

“Mercenaries. They were aware they were targeting vampires. But they did not know they were attacking a home of werewolves. They would’ve been much more careful about it, if they did, believe me.”

“I killed a man because someone was stupid,” she chuckled bitterly, “arrogant and stupid. And the worst thing...”

She breathed through her mouth to stop herself from crying.

“The worst thing is I feel bad about it,” she turned to Mina, holding her hands up in front of her, as if staring at blood stains covering them. “These men were attacking my home, we’re going to hurt my family, to hurt you! And I killed one of them, I was just defending myself. But when I was in that pool for one moment I felt like...”

She choked a sob down her throat, and breathed deeply so she could speak again.

“I felt like it was okay if I died right there in the water... because I killed someone... I would have deserved it...”

Mina’s face was full of sorrow at her words. She took her hand in hers.

“And I feel weak!!” She spat the word. “Because I’m certain that none of the Beowulfs, would feel like this. I was shocked that I killed someone when it’s supposed to be the job of my family, being ready to kill so that _you_ can live, so that you can do all the projects you want and be safe doing them, so that we can all live with those projects and be happy with them.”

Now she was crying again and looked up at Mina:

“All my life I told myself I was just as strong as my brother, that I could’ve been a Beowulf too, and be there with him and my father... But now I see I’m just not worthy of that. I’m unworthy of them...”

Mina squeezed her hand in hers, waiting for her to cry her tears out.

“Mark my words, this might be the first time I ever say this but I think you give the Beowulfs too much credit, darling.”

“Huh?”

“Just like those mercenaries, the Beowulf’s way is in warfare. They protect and they kill for a living. But do not think for one second that they do not suffer from this. The Earth clan has suffered greatly for the sake of vampires. And not just in genetics.”

Mina stared at the window, looking at the forest and Sierra heard the adoration in her voice.

“Great and mighty are the Beowulfs who sacrificed their humanity, their purity, some would say their souls, for the sake of us the Lords of the Night. They live on the honor of a duty well done and the pride of their strength of mind and body, the pride of being able to serve and protect their masters, a pride many would spit on and yet they rise above and become more dignified and stronger than any others. My soldiers are my pride and joy, the greatest warriors of our time and I’m more proud of the fact that despite the fact that some are broken by the fightings, they remain by my side. They are the ones who honor me. I must be worthy of them.”

Sierra was impressed by the things the Queen just said about her clan. 

“I am even more honored by the sacrifices the people of the Dens do to raise them and to protect them like you did. I am honored by their choice to stay in the clan and help them serve the Tepes. I know some do not. And some are broken by the fears of raising cubs like you.” She poked her nose gently, and Sierra laughed. “I must be worthy of them as well.”

Sierra nodded. She agreed with those feelings. Not from the same perspective as the Princess, but this was also something she wanted to be.

“May I tell you a secret, Sierra?”

While she scrubbed her tears with her other hand, Sierra, intrigued, nodded.

“You and I are much more alike than you think.”

“Huh?”

“Indeed we are! You see, throughout my long life, I saw many, oh so many people die for my sake. And others I killed myself because they were my enemies. Such things would be normal for someone of my station, no? But sometimes, even though I am just exerting my right and duty, I...” she hesitated and Sierra was captivated, “I ask to myself: “what in the name of all that is good in this world gives me the right to decide of the fate of so many people? What have I done to deserve such dedication, such love?””

“But... you’re the Queen. You’re the most powerful person in... the world!”

“That I am. But... I remain a person, do I not? A person with her doubts, her mistakes... her pain...”

Mina sat on the bed and leaned Sierra’s head against her chest, petting her hair, like a mother would.

“And sometimes... even I can feel so powerless it sickens me. Most of my life has been spent depending on others to survive. Even to the point when I have wondered if my power was even my own...”

Sierra was stunned at this revelation. It was both very different from what she was feeling... and yet so similar...

“And so when I was tired of saying that to myself... I just decided that I must do what I can. Just like you. Do what you can, for what you believe in.”

Sierra took a long moment to take these words in her heart before taking the Princess into a hug.

“Thank you...” she whispered.

“No, thank you. Thank you for being so good to me, in the short amount of time that we met. I must go. I visited the Den and I’m glad of the results here. I must leave you now. I shall make a better work of protecting you next time.”

“Me too. I will work hard so that you don’t need to.”

“Until we meet again. When my project is finished I would be glad to see you there! You are officially invited.”

“I can’t wait,” Sierra giggled.

“Tell me, Sierra. Are we friends?” Mina asked, suddenly bashful.

“W... You would like to be my friend? Friends with me??!”

“And why not? I think we get along splendidly! I’m already friends with your mother, this fantastic woman. Why not you too?”

Sierra blushed bringing her hands to her heating cheeks. 

“I mean... aren’t I too young?”

“Sierra dear, a lot of people would be way too young for me, if I followed this logic, don’t you think?” Mina deadpanned and Sierra made an undignified snort, that made them both snicker like children. “I met with a lot of wonderful people, many were younger than me, but I’ve made lasting friendships! I don’t know why I couldn’t make one with someone as charming and earnest as you.”

Sierra smiled. 

“Well then... I would be honored. If you would have me...”

“Certainly. That makes me more happy than you may think.”

They hugged for another moment. Then a gorgeous woman with black hair tied in an elegant bun and a suit appeared at her room’s door, beautiful and noble red eyes watching them with a serene expression.

“My Princess,” 

“Oh is it time already? Shame. But before I must introduce you. Come in, come in. This is my right-hand woman, Lady Veratos.”

“Oh so she’s the one called Vera?” Sierra laughed. 

“I am indeed,” Vera said with an amused smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I must thank you for having been so patient with our Queen, Fraulein Keller.”

“Not at all. It was my pleasure. I am honored that I could meet with so many amazing people.”

Vera smiled endearingly at her and Sierra was so impressed by her beauty at this moment she blushed hard.

“You look like little tomato,” Mina poked her cheek teasingly.

“No I don’t,” she huffed and Mina laughed. They both looked at each other.

“Good bye, Sierra.”

“Good bye, Mina.”

She gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving her room and she saw her walking like a woman going to a business reunion, her heals clacking on the floor. She heard her clear voice giving orders resounding in the hallway as she walked away. 

_What an amazing person_, she thought to herself. _Did I just become her friend?_


End file.
